The Forgotten Soldier

Harry's dead after his last battle against Voldemort. Ron and Hermione are married. There's a battle between the good and the dark side, and Ron decides to fight in it alone, without Hermione, which only results in him getting captured and locked up in a prison where the death eaters kept all Order members. Then, out of the blue, Lucius Malfoy, one of the major leaders of the prison, decides to strike up a bargain with Hermione. He tells her that he will not kill her husband, if she agree's to marry his son, Draco Malfoy. Told in Hermione's POV.

Prologue: The Never-Ending War

Life without Ron was hard. Even then, it being a few months with him gone and missing within the war, things were hard. Just thinking about him made me, the well-kept one of the family, cry and lock myself up in my room, while Ginny tried her hardest to calm me down, and Fred and George complained about all the drama and the "negative energy" I gave off. Now of course now I know they were just trying to get under my skin, but their timing was very bad to try and do so.

After all, my husband, the man that took seven years to realize that I loved him and that he loved me before we even got married two years later, was gone at war, and could have been dying in an alleyway, with his body stuffed in a trash can for all I knew. And each time I got an image of things like that or images of him dead or dying, I blamed myself for what I saw.

After all, I shouldn't have let him go alone to fight off evil. I knew better then anyone else that Ron had trouble when it came to certain spells, and anyway, he could barely take care of his pet rat when he had it, so how was he possibly supposed to take care of himself during a war. It wasn't like I could control it though, he wouldn't let me go anyway, and if he found out I left, he probably wouldn't have spoken to me for months, but he wouldn't have divorced me. Oh no, he loved me way too much to do that.

Tap, tap, tap! Is what I heard that one morning in particular at the front door of the burrow. I remember it clearly, because it had been the fifth month that I had gone with Ron away, and I had been writing my 15th letter to him that month, only to have the last fourteen with no replies. "Hermione dear, do you think you could get that?" Mrs. Weasley said, looking over something she had cooked up for dinner.

Mrs. Weasley had taken Ron's absence a bit harder then I had. When Ron first told her, he was leaving, she simply cried for weeks. Even I myself had officially decided that I would not cry in front of him, but I supposed that her plan in particular had been to watch her cry before he even left, to make him feel bad enough to stay. Unfortunately, it hadn't worked.

"Okay." I said, simply, getting up, with my hair in a messy bun, my heart beating a bit fast.

Every time the door rang or was knocked on those few months my heart would practically skip beats, as if Ron would be the one standing behind the door. Sometimes I use to picture myself, opening the door and seeing him there, and then giving him the biggest hug and never let him go. He had always been such a hug able guy after all, sort of like a teddy bear. So when I opened the door, you can only imagine the disappointment, shock, and fear that I felt when I found Lucius Malfoy standing in front of me.

Lucius Malfoy had never been one of those men that... favored me, really, but then again, it wasn't like I was one of his biggest fans either. After all, the man was a death eater, and he belonged in Askaban, but then again, over the years, Askaban itself was crumbling apart, and he, like so many others, had escaped from it, with the help of their fellow Death Eaters.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, crossing my arms, my hopeful face turning into one of disgust.

"Good day, Miss Granger." Lucius said, his voice just as cold and calm as I remembered it to be, "My, my, you've certainly grown, now haven't you?"

"What," I spat, again, "are you doing here?"

"Do you think I could come in," He suggested, his icy colored eyes scanning me, "for further explanation, of course."

I examined him in return, and looked behind him. Of course I wasn't just going to let the man in, that would have meant that I actually trusted him a bit. "Give me your wand first." I said, holding out my hand.

Lucius frowned, taking his wand out of his pocket and handing it to me. "You really must learn how to trust people. If you continue to act so cold people will really begin to dislike you." He said, with that smirk of his.

'Oh, you're one to talk about people disliking me...' I thought to myself, as I opened the door a bit, to allow him in, and told him, "I'm not some naive five year old, Mr. Malfoy. So save you're how to be stupid pep talks for someone who actually cares, and for someone who will actually buy it, preferably someone who doesn't know you."

Lucius snorted, as he took a seat in the kitchen. "Why hello, Mrs. Weasley." Lucius said, sounding as though he was in a good mood, which was odd enough as it is.

Mrs. Weasley turned around, her eyes widening as she saw him. She looked over at me, questioningly. "Mum, do you think you could leave Mr. Malfoy and I to speak for a moment, please?" I said, looking at her.

"Mum . . . " Lucius said, with an eyebrow raised, looking around the smile, over stuffed kitchen distastefully.

Be careful, she mouthed to me, as she walked out of the kitchen, after turning down the stove. I turned around, and looked over at Lucius. "Now what's this about?" I asked, just wanting to know what was going about.

"What? You're not even going to offer me some tea?" Lucius said, taking a seat, smirking over at me, "You really do need to learn how to treat guests."

I rolled my eyes, and shook my head. "You're not a guest, sir, you're an inconvenience, there is surely a difference." I said, and pushed forward, "Now tell me why you're here."

"Didn't Ronald love his mother's tea, Miss Granger?" Lucius said, getting up and pouring some out on his own, whipping his hands off on his pants after he touched the bowl that held the tea.

"It's Mrs. Weasley, and yes he did, but I don't see why that matters." I said, facing him as he drank some of the tea, watching as he walked around the kitchen, as though it were his own, accept, infected.

"He liked a lot of things, didn't he. He liked chess, tea, Quidditch, and he loved you, am I right?" Lucius said, taking another seat, after grabbing a napkin, and whipped his hands after he took every sip.

"Yes, yes he did. I... I don't see where you're leading me to here, Mr. Malfoy." I said, and suddenly thoughts of something being wrong with Ron began to pop into my head, one by one.

"Do you think he likes living, Miss Granger, I mean, Mrs. Weasley?" Lucius said, now looking straight into my eyes.

My heart skipped beats now, and my hands began to sweat. "What have you done with him?" I asked, sitting down across from him.

"Me? I have done nothing to him... yet." Lucius said, taking another sip of the tea.

I gulped down hard, looking at him. So that meant that Ron was still alive, which yes, I was happy about, but I knew there was so much more. "Yet?" I stuttered, glaring at him, "Where is he? What's happened to him... Mr. Malfoy, I have the feeling that you're not here to inform me on how my husband is doing."

Lucius smirked, placing down his cup of tea completely, with his hands folded onto the table. "I've come here to strike a bargain with you, Hermione. Just a simple bargain."

Was it really that simple though? Of course I didn't actually think so. Oh no, anyone who knew of Lucius' past, knew that the bargain was going to be most likely very much far from simple. "What is it?"

"Well, it's very easy to comprehend. See, I will allow your husband to live, if you, marry my son." Lucius said, as though it were nothing.

I laughed, after all, all the facts didn't seem to come close to fitting. Just think, I'm the muggleborn, and I was in Gryffindor, so why would the Malfoy's, the purest of purebloods want me, to marry their son, who seemed to have hated me all through my years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It just didn't make any sense. "You surely can't be serious." I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Serious?" Lucius said, the smirk fading from his lips, "I assure you, Ms. Granger, that I am nothing less then serious."

Guess I was wrong, right? "It's Mrs. Weasley, and you are... hysterical! Insane! Why would your own son want to marry me of all people? Why don't you find someone else? Anyone else?"

"It's a... personal matter, Ms. Granger, that I would care not to explain myself, but I'm sure once you talk to Draco, everything will come to an understanding." He said, as he stood up, and pushed in his seat.

"Where are you going? This conversation is far from over Mr. Malfoy! You can't honestly believe that I would marry your son!" I spat, standing up as well.

"For your husband's sake, my dear, I'm sure you won't have a problem with marrying my son." Lucius said, and then give me a smile, "Now, I will expect you packed and ready to leave this... sick excuse of a home by tomorrow, where I will send someone to pick you up here. I'll make sure to have those divorce papers in and done and ready for you to sign by the end of the week."

It was simply happening to fast. "Wait, to leave for where? Why are you doing this to me, sir? I have stayed out of your way ever since you were sent to Askaban. Frankly, I haven't spoken about you. Why me?" I asked him, blocking his way out.

"To the Malfoy Mansion, of course, your new home." Lucius said, pushing me to the side as he began to walk, and turned around as I continued to speak, "Now, now, Hermione, all we be further explained further on, but truly, you should think of this as a blessing. Honestly, why would you want to stay with these... redheaded rats?"

I took another hard gulp. My brain began to thump at the same pace as my heart, and my throat began to hurt, as a result of my body readying me to begin to cry. I watched as he began to walk toward the front door, and I followed him, and said as he opened the door, "These people love me!"

Lucius froze. Now that I think about it, what a stupid thing to say to suck a man like Lucius Malfoy. I mean, he surly didn't love. How could he? Well, at least I certainly couldn't picture him loving anyone... other then himself. "Love isn't everything, Hermione. Remember that. Surly, it will come in handy once you are married to my son. Which you will be, whether you like it or not." He said, quietly, and then walked out, shutting the door behind him.

A tear began to stride down my cheek. I know, how unlike me to just let him do this, but at that point I had not been thinking of the horror of having to marry Draco Malfoy, or the possible reasons why I would have to, but of Ron. If that would have kept him alive longer, and more time to escape or get away from where ever he was, then he would come save me, I was sure of it. Even now it surprises me how much hope and faith I could have in just one person, but then again, that's what love can do to some people. Make them think unreasonably. Surly, Lucius didn't even take a moment to think about what love could do to a person... but then again, maybe I really didn't either.

A/N So, do you like it, or not? Yes or no and why? Don't worry, the next chapter will fully explain why she has to marry Draco.